1.23.2012

Happy Birthday, Violet!

Violet has had a big month. Since Christmas, she got tubes in her ears, started walking, figured out how to drink from a sippy cup, and got her first tooth. And just last night, she slept for 10 hours straight (one of the few nights she's slept through the night)!

We had a big party for her on Saturday so that friends and family would be able to join us. Apparently I have some sort of obsession with Minnie Mouse (according to Dave), but once I had the idea for a Minnie Mouse birthday, I didn't want to do anything else. So I made a Minnie Mouse cake and we got Violet a giant Minnie balloon, which she loves. I also gave her a Minnie toy, which Eddie loves.

The cake turned out okay considering that I tried something new. Instead of just using normal frosting to draw and fill the design, I used Sugar Sheets, which are sheets of paper made out of frosting that you can cut out and stick on the cake. I also made Violet a little #1 smash cake that was all for her. And she methodically devoured the whole thing, plus some.

Violet shredded tissue paper while all the other kids opened her presents for her. Thanks to all who came!

This morning, I took Violet in for her check-up. She is getting tall and skinny, weighing in at 21.5 pounds (61st percentile) and measuring 31 inches (97th percentile). No wonder she's wearing 24 month size clothes! She was quite feisty when the doctor did the exam. Violet has a deep-rooted loathing for the stethoscope. But she was even more angry when she had to get 3 shots. Hopefully after our follow-up with the ENT on Wednesday, we can avoid doctors for a while so she'll forget that she hates them.

The last year has had some big challenges, but I am happy to say that Violet was not one of them. She is a sweet and happy girl and we wouldn't trade her for anything! Happy Birthday, Violet!

The cake was made from Our Best Bites white cake recipe (it's just a Duncan Hines mix with stuff added in). The square pans belong to my mom. She used to do wedding cakes, so she has all sorts of shapes in all sorts of sizes.